Feet not growing

[Tiffany]

My mare is shod in front but not been shod behind for years. Her feet used to grow at what I would call a 'normal' rate but for last two years the growth has really slowed down with her back feet growing much slower than the front. She's normally shod every 8 weeks but quite often there's nothing to be trimmed off the back.

Should I be concerned or just accept that's how her feet are?

We mainly do light hacking although not done anything since Jan due to an abscess in her neck after her annual vaccine and her back feet still don't look ready for a trim

 

[Oberon]

Is she matching growth to wear and so self trimming?

 

[Alyth]

Her front hooves would probably do the same if they weren't shod.....

 

[Leg_end]

Is she matching growth to wear and so self trimming?

This would be my first thought. Unless you've got a marker on the back feet (event lines etc) then it must be difficult to see how fast they are growing. Could you put a dot of permenant marker on them to see if they are genuinely not growing or if she is self trimming?

 

[Tiffany]

Is she matching growth to wear and so self trimming?

Good question although she's certainly not been self trimming since January because she's done nothing.

 

[Tiffany]

Her front hooves would probably do the same if they weren't shod.....

Her feet don't grow much either even in summer there never seems to be much growth.

 

[Tiffany]

This would be my first thought. Unless you've got a marker on the back feet (event lines etc) then it must be difficult to see how fast they are growing. Could you put a dot of permenant marker on them to see if they are genuinely not growing or if she is self trimming?

Never thought of putting a marker on her feet but I will do. Such a simple idea yet it hadn't even crossed my mind - thanks

 

[Oberon]

Good question although she's certainly not been self trimming since January because she's done nothing.

It makes sense if she is matching growth with wear.

If she isn't doing so much, she won't need to grow so much either.

Hoof is clever like that - it's designed to be self maintaining. There are no farriers in the wild.

The Hampson/Pollitt Brumby study did some interesting experiments with 'hard ground, desert' herds and 'soft ground, muddy fields' herds. They swapped them over and watched how the hooves changed in response to the new environment.

 

[glenruby]

Feed biotin. Research has shown it can increase hoof growth by about 15%.

 

[Alyth]

You wouldn't be able to continue shoeing her forefeet if her hooves weren't growing!! If she's not doing much work why shoe at all??

 

[Tiffany]

Because we r on stoney ground & she was diagnosed with navicular nearly 2 years ago.

 

[Tiffany]

Because we r on stoney ground & she was diagnosed with navicular nearly 2 years ago.

 

[Kenzo]

Work stimulates horn growth, so if you have had to reduce or stop working her then it makes sense that the growth has slowed down, specially on the back as they will wear slightly anyway.
Biotin will help it will help although it will take around 6 months to really see the improvement, worth it though.

 

[Tiffany]

I can start riding her again this week so will mark her feet as someone suggested then I can see exactly how much they grow